The Love That Binds the Virtues of God
Colossians 3: 12-14 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Tracing back the history of Valentine's Day brings us to the third century and the Roman Emperor Claudius II. Legend has it that the Emperor had decreed that young men were not allowed to marry. Claudius believed that this would increase his army. Valentine, who was a minister disobeyed and performed marriage ceremonies in secret until caught. Sentenced to death, Valentine was visited in prison by many, including the daughter of the jailer. Supposedly, Valentine miraculously healed the daughter of blindness and before he was martyred, he sent her a note addressing her as "beloved" and signed it..."from your Valentine."
From this legend, Valentine's Day was born. A day set aside to celebrate human love. But as we convey our love this season, let us not forget from where love comes:
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1John 4: 7-12
Love comes from God. God is love. God intended to commune with His creation but the fall of man placed a permanent separation between God and man. In response to the love of God, man disobeyed. Yet God still loved His creation so much that He was willing to provide His only Son as an atoning sacrifice to restore the communion between God and man. Yet there remains so much hate in the world. So much pain. These verses from 1John entreat us to realize that in light of the love God has shown toward us, we ought to love one another.
But we still fall short of that mark so often; even within the church. Even in light of the love of God, we can still not show the love of God toward one another. That is because man exists in an inherently sinful state. It is a matter of the heart:
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9
